Robert Kennedy had a favorite line from Emerson: “If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.”

Larry Perez had no expectations of changing the world when he put his foot down a year ago this week. Indeed, he probably expected people to walk on by.

And yet, the whole world — or at least that which revolves around Waco schools — came round to him.

What did he do? At the Feb. 14 school board meeting the trustee spoke 17 words, which for the normally quiet Perez is a lot:

“In my district, the community will not support a bond election without a new University High School.”

If the retired postal carrier were prone to run off at the mouth, these words might have been discounted. As it was, they instantly changed the discussion about the future of Waco schools.

This year, on undeveloped land southeast of Interstate 35, ground will be broken for a new University High School. Voters said, “Let it be so.” Students will stroll through its doors in the fall of 2011.

It wasn’t as simple as one school trustee willing it. But the voicing of Perez’ objection shows how powerful an individual voice can be.

The capital construction plan being considered by the district at this time last year time put a new University High far at the back of the line, 10 years or more in the future. One obvious concern by those drawing up a bond proposal was that this was one big-ticket item voters would be reluctant to support.

Perez, saying he was “fed up” with the stepchild status of the South Waco high school, decided it was time to make some noise, in a soft way.

Other board members or the administration might have called Perez’s bluff, wagering he wasn’t speaking for most in his district. But the prospect that a substantial bloc of voters might spurn a bond issue was an attention-grabber.

Within a matter of days after Perez’s comment, the whole bond package had been reconfigured. Guess what was at the front of the line.

People came to agree that the imperative for the new high school wasn’t just provincial, something for one group of voters, students and taxpayers. The imperative was broader — for quality, for schools that are points of pride rather than items stricken from the Welcome Wagon tour.

Similarly, who benefits when things improve in East Waco with a new elementary school and eye-popping additions at Quinn Campus? We all do.

Perez knows what it’s like in either part of town. He grew up in East Waco. Now he’s in his third term as the school trustee for South Waco.

He said he was encouraged to see people and civic groups rally around the idea of placing University on the bond issue and, once there, supporting the package.

“We have the voting power to get things done,” he said. “We just need to educate more people that we can have things by voting for what we believe in.”

Things really are looking up in South Waco. One of the turning points was, not coincidentally, another new school — Cesar Chavez Middle, built in 2002. It truly has transformed the once-decaying neighborhood encircling the old Cotton Palace. New housing stock, some of it from public housing efforts, has popped up.

Home improvement, not green and red tags, seems to be the norm on streets like Clay and Dutton.

Nonprofit groups such as Avance (in an old day-care center) and the Talitha Koum Nurture Center (in the old Boys Club at 13th and Clay), have brought opportunity and hope.

Someone saw a need, felt a cause and placed a foot down. And the world came round.

John Young’s column appears Thursday and Sunday. E-mail: jyoung@wacotrib.com. Carlos Sanchez’s column will return soon.